It was love at first sight.
George Heinrich was just five years old when his father brought home an eastern box turtle. It escaped shortly afterwards, but Heinrich was already hooked on learning more about the ancient animals that are largely unchanged since the days of dinosaurs.
Today he’s a field biologist and environmental educator, sharing his love of all things turtle and working to protect them and the habitats they need to survive. “There is still some harvesting occurring in some parts of the state, but the biggest issue facing turtles is the loss and degradation of habitat,” he says. “Certainly there are significant threats to Florida turtles and their associated ecosystems but opportunities to save them are still present — we haven’t reached the tipping point yet.”
That puts Florida educators at the leading edge of the conservation movement, he adds. “Turtles are the ideal subject for ecology or conservation classes because they play such an important role in the environment and they’re faced with multiple threats.”
Florida is the second richest center of turtle diversity in the world. About 8% of the world’s known species live in the state’s uplands, coastal wetlands or marine ecosystems. The threats facing them are as diverse as the species — from the massive sea turtles that spend most of their lives roaming deep oceans to gopher tortoises that thrive in hot, sandy inland areas.
One of the first questions people typically ask Heinrich is about the differences between turtles, tortoises and terrapins. “They’re all turtles,” he explains, although the moniker generally applies mainly to turtles that spend all or most of their lives in water.
On the other hand, tortoises typically live on land, he said. “Tortoises are a family of turtles with about 50 species in the world,” he said. They range from the 7.5-inch box turtle to the Galápagos tortoise that can weigh up to 880 pounds.
The diamondback terrapins are the only species of turtles that exclusively live in brackish water. Once common in coastal areas from Massachusetts to Texas, they were considered such a delicacy at the dinner table that they practically disappeared. So little research has been conducted on terrapins that no one knows how many have survived, but some researchers believe they should be listed as endangered.
The biggest single threat to terrapins is being caught by mistake in crab traps. Like all reptiles, terrapins must breathe air, so they drown in the traps if they’re not pulled out immediately. “This could be resolved with a 45-cent excluder that would allow crabs in the trap but keep most turtles out,” Heinrich said. Crabbers and regulators, however, have been slow to adapt the life-saving technology. (For more information on terrapins, see the Summer 2003 edition of Bay Soundings online at www.baysoundings.com/sum03/terrapin.html.)
While terrapins are exceedingly shy and seldom seen in the wild, many people recognize gopher tortoises from trips to places like Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, where Heinrich serves as the volunteer leader for turtle walks through the 400-acre preserve that is the largest remaining gopher tortoise habitat in south Pinellas County. Working with a number of volunteers over nearly three months, Heinrich surveyed the entire park in six-foot transects to count gopher tortoise burrows.
“The burrows are easy to see, and then you use a formula to estimate the number of tortoises using them,” he explains. “They’re very good housekeepers, so an active burrow will be clear of leaves and other debris that would pile up if the tortoises weren’t coming and going.”
Those burrows, which may extend up to 40 feet in length, in colonies that contain up to a dozen tortoises, are the reason gopher tortoises are considered to be a “keystone species.” Tortoises share their burrows with 350 other animal species, ranging from burrowing owls and snakes (including diamondback rattlers and the endangered eastern indigo) to rabbits, skunks, squirrels, mice, frogs and crickets.
But even preserved habitat may not be enough to maintain populations of gopher tortoises and the animals that depend upon their burrows. “Fire is critical,” Heinrich said. “They’ll eat almost anything that’s green but they want tender green growth. Without fire, dense vegetation shades out new growth.”
Learn more about Florida’s threatened turtle species:
- Teachers and informal educators can join Heinrich for an intensive four-day workshop scheduled from June 18 to 21 at Boyd Hill. “Our goal is to provide a lifetime experience that will allow educators to return to their formal and non-formal education settings and excite others,” Heinrich said. The workshop includes both classroom instruction and field trips to locations like Rainbow Run in Marion County, Mote Marine Laboratory and an evening hike on a Sarasota County beach to look for nesting loggerheads.
- Six week-long nature camps are scheduled at Boyd Hill and Weedon Island and Brooker Creek nature preserves for kids aged 7 to 11. Three of the programs focus on herpetology, featuring up-close encounters with a variety of animals. Campers will learn about the ecology and conservation of animals such as gopher tortoises, frogs, lizards, and snakes. Wildlife ecology camps blend classroom and field sessions with hands-on activities, guest presentations and exploration of the preserves’ diverse habitats, where campers will practice their nature detective skills.
Complete information and registration forms are online at www.heinrichecologicalservices.com/programs.html.
[su_divider]Originally published Spring 2012